Emergency medical services in the United KingdomFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A Mercedes Sprinter ambulance of the South Western Ambulance Service responds to an emergency call
The London Air Ambulance in actionEmergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide immediate care to people with acute illness or injury, and are predominantly provided, free at the point of care, by the four National Health Services of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigraton or visitor status.[1]
The NHS commissioners provide most of their emergency medical services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsbility across the UK (11 in England, 1 each in the other three countries), although there is both subcontracting to, and direct commissioning of, private and voluntary ambulance services to respond to some calls.
As with other emergency services, the public normally access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers (either 999 or 112).[2]
In addition to the central provision of NHS ambulance services, there are also some private and volunteer emergency medical services arrangements in place in the UK, including all air ambulances except those in Scotland, the use of private or volunteer ambulances at public events or large private sites, and as part of community provision of services such as community first responders or Hatzola.